Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa is a 1992–1993 American animated television series created by comic book artist Ryan Brown, known for his work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It aired as part of ABC's Saturday morning lineup.
It was produced by Greengrass Productions in association with King World Productions and was animated by Gunther-Wahl Productions for its first season, and Ruby-Spears Enterprises for its second season. At the time of launch, it was only the second animated series involving King World Productions to be broadcast (the other was the animated spin-off of The Little Rascals, which aired on ABC from 1982 to 1984).
First broadcast on September 12, 1992, the show ran for two seasons of thirteen episodes each. It also aired on YTV from 1992 to 1999 in Canada. The series was featured in reruns on Toon Disney from 1998 to 2001.
Plot
Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa dealt with a mutation of some kind; an irradiated comet struck the late 19th century Western plains creating a miles high mesa shrouded in clouds. Everything trapped on top of the mesa was "cow-metized" by the light from the "cow-met" and "evolved" into a "bovipomorphic" state. Inspired by old tales of the Wild West, this new bovine community developed to the point where they emulated that era's way of life, including the requisite ruffians and corrupt sheriffs. However, their knowledge of Wild West living was limited, and as such, many things about their culture had to be improvised to 'fill in the blanks'. The concepts of steampunk and Weird West were utilized throughout its run.
The series focuses on trying to keep justice in the frontier territory. The lawbreakers were too much for the corrupt regulators of Cowtown (namely Mayor Oscar Bulloney and Sheriff Terrorbull) to handle by themselves. Helping them out, whether they wanted it or not, were a group of peacekeepers known as C.O.W.-Boys (the C.O.W. part is short for "Code of the West") led by Marshal Moo Montana and joined by the Dakota Dude and the Cowlorado Kid. Marshal Moo Montana and his deputies had their hands full with several ruffians and outlaw gangs that plagued the otherwise peaceful town.
Characters
C.O.W.-Boys
Marshal Moo Montana (voiced by Pat Fraley) is the leader of the C.O.W.-Boys and the marshal of Moo Mesa. Courageous and quick on his hooves, Moo "battles the bad guys and makes the West a safer place to graze". Lives by the Code of the West, which he seems to make up as he goes along (as seen in the episode "The Big Cow Wow"). He has a gun that shoots star-badges and rides a horse named "Cyclone". Dakota Dude (voiced by Jim Cummings) is the soft-spoken muscle of Montana's posse, Dakota is calm and level-headed, as he rarely loses his temper, even in near-death experiences (as seen in "Dances with Bulls") and is scared of heights. Dakota agreed to marry Cowlamity Kate in Wedding Bull Blues to save her father's inheritance. Dakota's horse's name is "Rebel". Cowlorado Kid (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is a Holstein cattle bull who is the youngest of the group and a self-proclaimed ladies' man with a good singing voice, regardless of his skill with the lasso and guitar; also, Cowlorado isn't a deputy yet. In "Stolen on the River", he tries to prove he's worthy of being a deputy by catching Five Card Cud only to get in trouble and be rescued by Dakota and Moo. Cowlorado's horse's name is "Jezebel".